Fall Break: Sunday Drivin'

We started Sunday at church with Gigi and Pawpaw. Matt sang a couple of songs in the morning worship service, much to Gigi's delight.

Sunday best

Chloe and Essie try out the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel

Surely Essie won't be able to eat all those pancakes and peaches, right?

Wrong. Back toward Kentucky we go with full bellies.

A fortuitous potty break provided an unexpected stop in Metropolis, Illinois.

Kids pose with Superman

AJ and Essie

Dad and Chloe

Mom: "Get into the phone booth."

AJ: "What's a phone booth?"

Off we go on our way again!

We drove down through the Land Between the Lakes and stopped at the Woodlands Nature Station. (We were going to drive through the bison and elk prairie, but they told us the animals were too far off the road to see that day.)

Essie gets up close and personal with a snake!

An 18-year-old coyote

If you look carefull, you might see the sleeping bobcat, which the kids were excited to see, because we just finished reading "We Killed a Wildcat at Sugar Creek".

That's not a fake deer. He was off down at the bottom of his enclosure before Matt used his hillbilly skills to call him up close to us.

Wild turkey (the animal, not the whiskey)

Bald eagle

AJ tests his wingspan against a bald eagles'

Essie

Chloe

I think dad wins.

Petting some animal furs

Chloe on the shore of Lake Barkley

Dad and Essie across the way

A little hiking among some neat rock formations

Getting feet wet

AJ swore he would catch a fish. I guess this minnow counts?

The 351-foot-tall Jefferson Davis Memorial Monument at his birthplace in Fairview, Kentucky. When Chloe saw it from the highway, she said, "Look! Rapunzel!"

Dad reads Jefferson Davis' "Salute to Kentucky"

All this boring history doesn't keep these kids down

Just hangin' around

Settled in to watch a movie as the sun goes down.

Last goal of the day: get to the hotel in time to do some swimming before bed. Success!

Fall Break: Saturday at Gigi's

Since the kids are on Fall Break all next week, we decided to take a little family vacation over the weekend. First stop, Matt's grandparents in Southern Illinois:

Chloe and AJ rake some leaves

Essie sweeps the front porch

Dad cleans the gutters

Chloe

Scrubbing out the birdbath

Very proud of their hard work!

The raking done, it's time to have some fun!

Can you find three kids in that pile?

Dad demonstrates the proper technique.

Loading up the wheelbarrow

Chloe is eager to help drive.

A serious driver

Taking a break on the patio

AJ shows off some soccer skills

Chloe

Essie

Chloe loves this big seashell

Tossing the football with dad

A little game of keepaway

The swingset doesn't have any swings anymore, but no matter.

Chloe with her namesake, Eva Chloe

Gigi turned 91 on Friday!

Great-grandpa took us around on a beautiful afternoon to visit the graves of some of our family members.

It's not everyday that you get to have your picture taken with Jesus.

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New Specs

Essie got some new specs today to help her with reading and homework time. She's pretty dang cute, if I do say so myself. She also had a dentist appointment today so I told her she was a brand new woman now.

practicing reading

apparently someone high-jacked my camera while I was out of the room and took a picture of her sister Chloe so she wouldn't feel left out.

Back to working on those spelling words

Dressed for Success

So many good things are going on at our house, but I've just been too busy to sit and write about it. I had to post the picture below because AJ wore jeans for the 1st time in the 13 months he has lived with us. AJ has Sensory Defensiveness Disorder and we have been working with a wonderful Occupational Therapist for the past month or so to help him overcome this hurtle. Clothes have been a big irritant for him and we have following a brushing protocol, which has worked wonders for him. On Sunday evening, he came downstairs and announces he was ready for church. We just about fell over when we saw he had jeans on. I asked him how they felt and he said, "not good." but he wore them the rest of the evening so this is a big step.

I also had to post this picture below because with the dipping temps, the girls found an excuse to were their "new" boots (love consignment sales!) to church. Props to Matt for coordinating the outfits. AJ picked out his own clothes so we had to snap a picture of all 3.

A Night at the Movies

We took the girls to see Lion K*ng last night. I realized that while I'd heard it about a dozen times (from the front seat of the van), I hadn't actually watched it for a long time. And in 3D, it was awesome. The girls thoroughly enjoyed it and it was nice to have some time just with them.